


Injured

by Theonewhobloomsinthebittersnow



Category: Hadestown - Mitchell
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I'm not really sure what I was trying to do, but only at the end, the rest is angst, this is kind of a mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-26 15:33:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21376411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theonewhobloomsinthebittersnow/pseuds/Theonewhobloomsinthebittersnow
Summary: Orpheus gets severely wounded in a bar fight and then terrible things happen
Relationships: Eurydice/Orpheus (Hadestown), Hades/Persephone (Hadestown)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 52





	Injured

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [(sing us) home again](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20671724) by [thelostcolony](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelostcolony/pseuds/thelostcolony). 

> Ok, so basically this was not an original idea but was based on the beautiful work of thelostcolony who wrote a different fanfiction about this same topic and whomst I was heavily inspired by and also definitely stole some ideas from. Anyway, please go check them out because their work is amazing! Ok, enjoy!

It was late in the day when they brought him in. Eurydice had just gotten home from one of the odd jobs she had picked up and was just starting her daily attempt to figure out what they could eat for dinner when the door opened. The first thing she saw was Persephone and Hermes’ worried faces. The second thing she saw was Orpheus’s unconscious body. 

“Help me get him onto the bed,” Seph said through gritted teeth, and Eurydice sprinted over to help support his weight. 

“What happened?” Eurydice asked, shaking as she wrapped one of Orpheus’s arms around her shoulders.

“Bar fight,” Hermes answered, grimly. “Orpheus tried to break it up but he ended up getting in the way of a knife.” They carried him to the small bed in the corner, and Persephone hastily pulled up his shirt to get a better look at the wound. Eurydice let out a small whimper when she saw the deep gash in his stomach, and she heard Hermes catch his breath behind her. Eurydice climbed onto the bed, and took Orpheus’s hand in her own, clutching it to her chest. His breathing was shallow, and his forehead was slick with sweat but she could have sworn she felt him squeeze her hand back.

“Eurydice,” Persephone turned to the young girl. “Get me a bowl of hot water, a cloth, and as many rolls of bandages as you can find.” Eurydice dashed off without another word. 

“Is he going to be alright?” Hermes asked Persephone, softly. She glanced back at Eurydice who was frantically getting supplies.

“I hope so,” she said, biting her lip to keep her voice from shaking and turning back to Orpheus. Eurydice thrust the supplies she had gathered into Persephone’s waiting hands, and climbed back up onto the bed, holding Orpheus’s hand in her own again. Persephone dipped the cloth in the water and started cleaning the deep cut, wiping the blood away as fast as she could. 

“Eurydice, take his pulse for me,” she commanded, not looking up from what she was doing. Eurydice fumbled with his wrist, her hands shaking. 

“It’s barely there,” she said, clutching his hand tighter. “Persephone-” 

“I know songbird, I know,” Persephone whispered, desperately trying to stop the blood from flowing. She attempted to summon her powers, but the boy was too far gone to benefit from anything she could do right now. 

“Come on, Poet,” she begged. “Stay with us now.” But his breathing was getting shallower with every passing second, and Persephone knew in her heart of hearts that the boy wasn’t going to make it. When his chest stopped moving completely, she gave up. 

“Eurydice,” she whispered, looking up at the young girl. 

“No,” Eurydice’s voice was shaking with grief. “No. No no no no Orpheus please.” She buried her face in his shoulder. “Please,” she whispered again, shaking. She let out a desperate sob and clutched his hand to her chest. “Please Persephone,” she begged. The goddess’s eyes filled with tears.

“I’m so sorry Eurydice,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.” There was a quiet thump behind her, and Hermes seemed to crumple, falling to the ground his face in his hands. 

“Please, no,” Eurydice sobbed again, holding onto Orpheus’s body. “No,  _ no _ come back Orpheus, please!” Her desperate cries rang through the small room, making the two gods cry more. Eurydice let out one final scream of pain and curled into Orpheus, hugging his lifeless body close to her. 

Eurydice couldn’t feel anything. Everything had gone dark and cold as she watched her world slipping away from her. She clung to his lifeless body, burying her face in his shirt. It still smelled like him. Slowly,  _ slowly, she _ raised her head, still clutching Orpheus’s hand to her chest. There was a strange quiet in her head. As if she had forgotten everything but the task in front of her. She knelt, and untied Orpheus’s bandana, pressing her face into it a final time before slipping it in her pocket. She slowly got up from the bed and, almost as if she was in a trance, walked to the door. Hermes, who had been expecting this, managed to stagger to a standing position and pull her away from the door. 

“Let me go!” Eurydice begged, struggling against Hermes’ grip. “Please, I have to see him again.” She was still crying, and she choked on the unshed tears clogging her throat as she spoke. “Please,” she whispered again, looking pleadingly up at Hermes. The old god’s heart broke, but he stood his ground.

“You can’t go, songbird,” he said. “You’re in no state to be making decisions like that.” 

“What decision is there to make!” She practically screamed. “That’s my husband down there! I have to see him again! This can’t be it! He can’t just be gone!” Persephone stood up slowly and went over to them looking as if every step pained her. 

“It’s going to be okay, Songbird,” she whispered, hugging the young girl to her. “I promise, it’s going to be ok.” 

“Persephone,” Eurydice sobbed. 

“I know,” Persephone said, closing her eyes against the rush of tears. “I know. But you can’t go down there, it’s too dangerous.” Eurydice had no more strength to argue. She simply collapsed against Persephone, hopelessly sobbing into her shoulder. 

“What am I going to do now?” She whispered

  
  
  


Eurydice stayed in bed for a week. Persephone stayed with her, making sure that she ate. Hermes checked in as often as he could, but he still had a bar to run. Eurydice didn’t sleep for more than four hours at a time. Her eyes were puffy from crying, and her voice was barely a whisper. 

“I have to go down there,” Eurydice begged again, after every nightmare. Persephone would shake her head gently.

“You can’t go back down there,” she would say. “You’re alive.” 

“Orpheus did it,” Eurydice would argue back, trying not to break down in tears again. 

“Orpheus is-  _ was _ the son of a muse,” Hermes would say if he happened to be there, going to sit down on the bed next to her. “He used magic, even if he didn’t know it, to get down there.”

“Please,” she always whispered. “I didn’t get to say goodbye.” And Hermes and Persephone’s hearts would shatter, but they managed to remain firm every time she asked. 

“It wouldn’t be safe for you, Songbird,” Hermes sometimes said, placing his hand on her shoulder. “You know that he would never forgive himself if something happened to you,” Persephone would add, taking the girl’s hand. And Eurydice would nod and curl up under the covers again. 

“I miss him,” she always whispered, burying her face in the bandana again.

“Me too,” Hermes would sigh sadly, standing up. “Me too.”

  
  


Two weeks later, it was time for fall. Almost the whole town was at the train station to say goodbye to Persephone. She said goodbye to everyone cheerfully enough, waving and laughing and hugging, but once she got on the train, she dropped her smile and her eyes looked weary. 

“Have you seen her all day?” Hermes asked her, worriedly as soon as the door closed behind her. Persephone shook her head,

“Not since I said goodbye to her this morning,” she responded. 

“She didn’t give you a letter or nothin’?” Hermes asked her. Seph shook her head again. Hermes seemed even more panicked at that and ran his hands over his face as if he were trying to iron it.

“I’m sure she’s alright,” Seph said, trying to be soothing. “This has always been hard for her.” Hermes sighed and nodded, turning to walk up to the front of the train while Seph got herself settled in the train car. After the train had been moving for about five minutes, she closed her book and sighed, glancing up at the front of the train to make sure Hermes couldn’t hear her.

“It’s ok girl,” she said. “I’m not gonna make you go back.” The girl in question silently climbed out from under a bench and sat down next to Persephone. “Your hair is a mess,” Persephone sighed, brushing it out with her fingers. 

“Well I’ve kind of had other things on my mind,” Eurydice mumbled. Persephone laughed. Eurydice attempted a smile, but could only come up with a sort of grimace. She looked down at her lap and started picking her nails. 

“What’s your plan?” Persephone asked her, trying to keep the girl talking. 

“I- I’m not sure,” Eurydice admitted, looking up at Persephone. “I just want to see him again,” she said. “I can figure out the rest later.” Persephone rolled her eyes,   
“Birds of a feather,” she muttered, reopening her book. The rest of the train ride passed slowly. It was always a long ride, but it seemed longer than other years to Persephone. Maybe it was the silence. She never could stand silence. Finally, they pulled into the station. Persephone stood up, gathered her things, and stepped off the train into her husband's arms. They held each other for a long moment, neither saying anything until she reluctantly pulled back and asked him, “Is he here?” Hades nodded.

“I wasn’t sure what to do with him until she got here, so I put him to work as a secretary for me,” he said, glancing at Eurydice who was still standing in the doorway of the train, suddenly shy. “He’ll be in my office. Second floor, first door on the right,” he said to her. This was all the encouragement Eurydice needed, and she sprinted off the train, towards the house that she vaguely remembered the placement of. She was surprised to find the front door open when she tried it, and she wasted no time in darting inside and up the stairs, throwing the office door open. He jumped at the door opening, and then he saw who it was. 

“Eurydice,” he gasped, standing up so quickly that his chair fell over.

“Orpheus,” she whispered. And then they were running, and he was picking her up and spinning her around, and she wrapped her arms around him and the damn broke. She sobbed into his shoulder, holding onto him as tight as she could. He was crying too, his face buried in her hair. He was whispering her name as he held her, saying it through his tears. She finally managed to pull her face up and look at him. 

“Orpheus,” she whispered again, leaning in to kiss him. He kissed her back, pulling her closer to his chest. 

“I missed you,” she said against his lips, stalling their kiss.

“You’re here,” he said, pulling back slightly to take in her whole face. “How are you here?” 

“The train,” she said simply, gently brushing his bangs out of his eyes.

“What?” He looked horrified. “You’re not-”

“No no,” she said hastily. “Seph let me ride with her.” Orpheus let out a sigh of relief and pressed his forehead against hers. 

“Now what?” he whispered.

“Now we go downstairs, and see what Mr. Hades says,” she said, turning towards the door and taking his hand, holding it tightly. He squeezed her fingers gently, and the two walked out of the office together. 

Hades and Persephone were sitting in the living room talking quietly when the two came down from the office. They fell silent when they saw the young couple hand in hand, standing in the doorway. There was a moment of long, tense silence, broken by Persephone. 

“Alright you two,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “Get on the train, Hermes’ll take you up.”

“I- you mean- we can go?” Eurydice asked, staring at her. Persephone smiled.

“Yes,” she said. “You can go.” 

“And it’s not a ‘test’ this time?” Eurydice asked, narrowing her eyes. This made Persephone laugh,

“No Songbird, it’s not a test,” she said. Eurydice, hardly daring to believe their luck turned to Orpheus, who looked as shocked as she did. 

“We can go,” he whispered, looking at her. She almost started crying right there, but she managed to hold herself together. Orpheus wasn’t so lucky and already had tears in his eyes threatening to fall. Eurydice gently brushed the tears away from his face with her thumb and took his hand in her own again. 

“Let’s go then,” she said, and he laughed, a soft, light sound before they started off towards the train. 

  
  


The train ride was a blur. It mostly consisted of Eurydice falling asleep on Orpheus’s shoulder, exhausted after a fortnight of almost no sleep. He ended up falling asleep too, his head resting on top of hers. In practically no time at all, they were pulling into the station, and the lovers were blearily getting off the train. As the train pulled back out of the station, the two started the walk back to their house, hand in hand. Neither said much, both of them lost in thought. Suddenly, Eurydice stopped walking and turned to Orpheus. 

“I love you,” she said, looking at him. 

“I love you too,” he said, looking at her, a little startled. It’s not that he didn’t think she loved him, he just knew that Eurydice was much more comfortable with actions rather than words. She didn’t often express her feelings through language, much more comfortable to leave the words up to Orpheus.

“I just wanted to let you know,” she mumbled, looking down at the ground, slightly embarrassed. Orpheus smiled and tried not to start crying again as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, continuing the long walk.

  
  


They came home to a surprisingly clean house. 

“What happened?” Orpheus asked, walking through the doorway.

“Mr. Hermes is a stress cleaner,” Eurydice explained, kicking off her boots. That made Orpheus laugh a little, as he abandoned his own boots next to hers. “Everything about my childhood makes sense now,” he joked, turning to look at Eurydice. She laughed too, before wrapping her arms tightly around him again. She let her head fall against his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.

“You're ok,” she whispered, letting out a long sigh of relief. “You’re here and you’re ok.” 

“I’m here and I’m ok,” Orpheus agreed, hugging her closer to him. 

“I love you,” she said again, squeezing him a little tighter. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Orpheus whispered, kissing the top of her head. “So much.”

“Don’t you ever do that to me again,” Eurydice begged. Orpheus closed his eyes and buried his face in her hair, breathing in the familiar smell of her cheap shampoo. 

“I’ll try, love.” He whispered. “I’ll try.”

**Author's Note:**

> Holy crap this was a hell of a lot longer than I thought it was! Anyway, I hope you liked it! Once again, please go check out thelostcolony's stuff it's really great! Ok, love you, drink water, take your meds, eat, bye.


End file.
